What's Wrong With Tori
by LoupDreams
Summary: While at school, Tori starts to feel off. She tries to brush it off, but things get worse. Her friends come to comfort her after school, only to see her condition is worse than they could imagine. What's going on?
1. Chapter 1

"Hey Tori, how's it going." Tori looked over her shoulder to see Cat standing behind her.

"Hey Cat," said Tori, as she made her way down the hallway of Hollywood Arts. She looked ahead and could see her locker in front of her. "Everything's the same as usual. Just going to class."

"Same here," said Cat, following Tori. She skipped as she walked down the hallway. "Is it okay if I follow you to class?"

"Sure," said Tori. She had reached her locker by now and was opening it.

"Hey, are you feeling okay?" said Cat.

"I'm feeling fine," said Tori.

"Are you sure?" said Cat.

"Why?" said Tori, turning around. She raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know, you look kind of...off," said Cat, biting her lower lip.

"Off?" Tori opened her locker and looked at her locker mirror. She didn't know what Cat was talking about. Sure, her face was a bit flushed, but only a bit. That could be explained by the fact she had to jog the rest of the way to school after Trina's car broke down. Fortunately, she got there with more than enough time, though her legs were a bit sore from all that running. "I'm pretty sure I'm okay."

"Alright," said Cat. "Well, if you do feel sick, don't push yourself too hard today."

"I won't." Tori smiled. Cat was a sweet girl, if a bit naive. She didn't like it if her friends weren't feeling well, whether it was a physical sickness or if the cause was mental. Tori put some stuff in her locker and picked up a few books. She turned to go to class, Cat still following behind her. She continued to skip as she followed Tori, who resisted the urge to giggle at the red-head.

"So what'd you think of the assignment Sikowitz gave us?" said Cat.

"The one where we were given a single line of dialogue, had to memorize it, and then act it out?" said Tori.

"Yeah, that one," said Cat.

"It was pretty easy," said Tori. "I'm pretty sure I'm gonna nail it."

"Same here," said Cat. "I've really got the emotion down. But I forgot my line."

"Do you have your piece of paper?" said Tori.

"I lost it," said Cat.

"Did you check you pocket?" said Tori.

Cat reached into her pocket. Soon, her face lit up. "There it is."

"Great," said Tori as they walked into Sikowitz's classroom. She could see the rest of her friends, and Jade, sitting in their seats. Beck was gone, having went to Georgia to film a movie. In the meantime, Jade had gotten more sullen and nasty. Sikowitz was at the front of the class, setting things up. As Tori sat down, she realized she was feeling a bit hot, though this was to be expected after running to school. It was also probably a good idea to take off her jacket. By now, Sikowitz had finished setting things up and class was about to begin.

Sikowitz turned to his students. "So the other day I gave you a piece of paper with a line of dialogue on it. I told you to memorize it and to be ready to act it out in front of the class. Do you have any idea why I want you to do that?"

"Because you were too lazy to come up with a real assignment and slapped together something at the last minute?" said Jade.

"Jade," said Sikowitz. "Raise your hand before you say something. But that's not why I gave you that assignment."

"Then why did you assign it?" said Andre.

"Andre," said Sikowitz. "Hand."

"Sorry." Andre raised his hand. "Then why did you assign it?"

"To help you understand to emote," said Sikowitz. "See, acting isn't just about saying lines correctly. It's about conveying emotions with that dialogue. Every line I gave you corresponds with a specific feeling. When you act this out, I need you to not only recite the line, but to portray these emotions."

"Sure," said Tori.

"Tori," said Sikowitz. "Remember to raise your hand."

"Sure," said Tori, this time raising her hand. She noticed that she was still hot, despite having taken off her jacket. Sweat was starting to bead up on her forehead. Not to mention, she was beginning to feel a bit stuffy. Maybe Cat was right and something was wrong with her.

"Anyways, let's being," said Sikowitz, sitting down in a chair by the stage. "Tori, how about you go first?"

"Okay," said Tori, getting out of her seat.

"Can you give me your piece of paper," said Sikowitz, putting his hand out towards Tori.

"Right." Tori reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She handed it to Sikowitz.

"Thank you. And remember Tori," said Sikowitz. "Make us feel the emotion."

"Will do." Tori got up on stage and looked out on the class. She started to feel dizzy, but steadied herself. She took a deep breath to relax herself. She could feel her body start to warm. She could feel the sweat forming on her skin.

Sikowitz looked at her impatiently. "We're ready whenever you are."

"Right," said Tori, subtly wiping sweat of her brow. After class, she would go to the nurse's office. "Let's see. I don't feel so well."

Tori proceeded to collapse to the floor. Sikowitz got out of his chair and clapped. "Good job Tori. I really believed that you were unwell. The fainting was a nice touch. Now get off the stage and let someone else try. Tori? Tori?"

* * *

"Why are we here?" said Jade.

"Because Tori's our friend," said Andre. Him, Jade, Robbie, and Cat stood outside the Vegas house. Robbie had just rung the doorbell.

"She'll still be our friend after we go to the movie," said Jade.

"Come on," said Andre. "It's not like us visiting her for a few minutes will make us late."

"You don't know that," said Jade.

The door opened and Trina stepped out. "Hey guys, what are you doing here?"

"We just wanted to check on Tori before we go to the movies," said Andre.

"You're going to the movies?" said Trina. "Well I'll just get my purse and we can go."

"We didn't invite you," said Jade.

"What about Tori?" said Andre.

"What about her?" said Trina.

"We came over to see her," said Robbie.

"Oh right," said Trina, leading the gang inside. "I don't know if she's really up for this. She's out like a light. The school nurse gave her some extra strength cold medicine. I actually think it's illegal."

"We just wanted to see how she was doing," said Andre.

"Fine," said Trina. She lead them upstairs to Tori's room.

"So, where are your parents?" said Robbie, as they walked up the stairs.

"They had a thing," said Trina. "I was originally going to do a one woman show, but I guess no one bought tickets so I cancelled it."

"Really?" said Jade.

"Yeah," said Trina. "I think it was because I set ticket prices to high. The economy's tight right now, so I get it. Hey, do you guys want to see it?"

"Not particularly," said Jade.

"What she means is we're going to see that movie," said Andre.

"Oh right," said Trina. "Hey, what is this movie anyways?"

"It's a remake of this German horror movie," said Jade.

"Sounds cool." Trina opened the door to her sister's room, to reveal that Tori was asleep on her bed. "Tori! Tori! Your friends are here! See, she's out cold."

"Okay," said Andre. He and the rest of the gang stepped into Tori's room. "Well, I guess we don't want to disturb her. Let's get going."

"Sure thing," said Trina, racing down the stairs. "Let me get my purse."

"You know Trina, do you really want to see this movie?" said Andre, following her down the stairs.

Robbie followed Andre. "Yeah, this is really scary. I don't know if it's your kind of thing."

Jade and Cat stayed in Tori's room looking around. "I didn't know Tori is into MMA."

"She is?" said Jade, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," said Cat, pointing to a poster of MMA fighter Shelby Marx.

"Oh yeah, Shelby Marx," said Jade. "I don't know, it's kind of lame that she lost to a chick who makes web videos."

"I didn't see that fight," said Cat.

"Have you seen any MMA fights?" said Jade.

"No." Jade moved over to Tori's bed and sat down. "Jade, I don't think it's a good idea to do that. You could wake her up."

"Please, I'm not going to wake her. Look." Jade proceeded to pinch Tori. When this didn't get a response, Jade scratched her. Tori groaned and her head jerked to the side, but she remained unconscious. "See, what'd I tell you."

"Don't do that," said Cat. "It's mean."

"Oh, I wouldn't want to be mean," said Jade.

"Well don't hurt her then," said Cat.

"Trust me, this won't hurt her." Jade moved her hand towards Tori's face.

"What are you doing?" said Cat.

"Nothing," said Jade, with a mock smile on her face. She pinched Tori's earlobe, turning to Cat to take in the worried smile on the red-head's face.

"She's bleeding!" said Cat.

"What?" Jade looked at Tori to see that Cat was right. Tori's nose was bleeding. "Jesus Christ!"

They soon heard the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. Andre was the first to enter the room. "What happened?"

"Tori's bleeding," said Cat, pointing to Tori's face.

"Well get her elevated," said Robbie. "We don't want her to choke on her blood."

"She's going to choke?" said Cat.

"Not if we get her elevated," said Robbie. He and Robbie went over to the bed, lifting Tori up so that she was elevated. The blood was now gushing out. "Get some tissues!"

"Sure," said Jade. She hopped off the bed and picked up a box of tissues. She rushed back to the bed and pushed the tissues in front of Andre and Robbie. Andre took some tissues and began to use them to soak up the blood on Tori's face.

Trina walked into the room. "Should I call a doctor?"

"No," said Robbie. "It's just a nosebleed."

"So she'll be alright?" said Cat.

"So long as we just keep her elevated," said Robbie.

"Great, so now that Tori's okay, can we go?" said Jade. She turned back to Tori. At this point, Andre had wiped up all the blood with the tissue and had shoved some tissues up Tori's nostrils. Tori then shot forward, her face landing on Jade's shoulder. "Ow!"

"Don't be so dramatic," said Andre. "It doesn't hurt that bad."

"She's biting me!" said Jade.

"She is?" Robbie and Andre pulled Tori away from Jade. Sure enough, Tori had bitten Jade. Jade's shoulder was bleeding and there were visible bite marks. Tori's mouth was covered in blood.

"Oh god, that's gross," said Trina.

"Yeah, we should probably clean that off of her," said Andre.

"No need," said Cat.

"Yeah, we should," said Robbie. "It's unsanitary. She could get diseases from Jade's blood."

"Hey," said Jade.

"No, I mean that Tori's got it covered." Cat pointed to Tori. Everyone followed her finger. Tori's tongue stuck out, licking up all the blood on her lips. She was still unconscious. Even Jade looked uneasy.

"That's just...disgusting," said Trina as she rushed out of the room and towards the bathroom.

Andre looked at Robbie. "Maybe we should call a doctor."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So this is kind of short compared to the last chapter, but don't worry. More is coming.**

Jade winced as the nurse applied a cotton swab to her cut up shoulder. "Sorry, I know this stings."

"Oh it doesn't hurt," said Jade. "I just can't stand the smell of your breath."

"Right." The nurse dropped the cotton swab in a nearby trash can. She picked up a bandage and put it on Jade's shoulder. "Well, it looks like you'll be okay. The bites should heal on their own. Now all you have to worry about is catching the flu from your friend."

"Great," said Jade.

The nurse was about to leave the room, but she turned around. "Hey, your nose is bleeding."

"It is?" Jade could feel something warm and sticky on her upper lip. She looked into a mirror that was in the exam room, to see that the nurse was right and her nose was bleeding.

"Here, let me get that for you." The nurse grabbed a tissue and went to wipe the blood off Jade's nose. As she approached, Jade's face shot forward and she went to bite the nurse's hand. The nurse pulled her arm away. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," said Jade, pulling away from the nurse. "I was just thirsty."

"Thirsty?" said the nurse.

"Yes, thirsty." Jade jumped forward again, trying to bite the nurse.

The nurse jumped out of the way and pushed Jade back. She then rushed out of the exam room and shouted into the halls. "Security!"

* * *

Tori woke up in a hospital bed. Her heart started to race. The last thing she remembered, she was in the school nurse's office, who'd given her some cold medicine to drink. Then everything went black. How'd she get here? She was sick, but not this sick. She looked around the room. To her left, there was an empty bed. To her right was Cat, dozing off in a chair by Tori's bed. "Cat!"

Cat woke with a jolt. "Tori! You're awake."

"I am," said Tori. She got up from her bed to give Cat a hug, but she realized she couldn't move her arms and legs. She looked down to see leather straps on her wrists and ankles. The leather dug into her skin, and the area around the straps looked red and irritated. She looked back to Cat. "Uh Cat, what with these things on my arms and legs?"

"The straps?" said Cat.

"Yeah, the straps," said Tori.

"They're there so you don't hurt anyone," said Cat. "By the way, how does Jade taste? Salty?"

"I have no idea," said Tori. "But why would I hurt anyone?"

Just then, Andre and Robbie walked into the hospital room. They were both carrying sandwiches, wrapped in cellophane, in their hands. Robbie tossed a sandwich towards Cat. "Here you go Cat. Hope you like ham and cheese."

Cat hopped out of the chair and caught the sandwich mid-air. "I do! I do!"

Andre turned to Tori. "I see you're up."

"Yeah," said Tori. "Hey, where's Trina?"

"She's trying to reach your parents," said Andre. "She's having trouble. I think they blocked her phone."

"Tell her that she can use my phone then," said Tori. "So um, why do I have these restraints on my feet and hands?"

"Those?" said Andre, pointing to the leather straps. "They're so you don't hurt anyone."

"Did I hurt anyone?" said Tori.

Everyone was silent for a while. Robbie finally spoke. "You bit Jade."

"I did?" said Tori. "Is she okay?"

"Other than some bite marks on her shoulder, she should be fine," said Andre. "You did draw some blood."

"I did?" said Tori.

"Yeah," said Cat. "And you drank some."

"What?" said Tori.

"Cat!" Andre and Robbie glared at the red-headed girl, who sheepishly sat back down on her chair, looking down on the floor.

"So I drank Jade's blood?" said Tori.

"Just a little," said Andre. "And I'm sure you did it by accident."

"Yeah," said Robbie. "Some just got in your mouth. And look, she's going to be fine."

Just then, the door to the hospital room opened and a team of doctors and nurses rushed in. They were carrying a dark-haired girl, who they put in the empty hospital bed. Tori looked at the girl and realized it was Jade. She was unconscious. The doctors began tightening the leather straps around her wrists and ankles. "Careful, we don't want her getting out."

"What's wrong with her?" said Tori.

"She attacked a nurse," said the lead Doctor.

"Attacked a nurse?" said Tori.

"Yes," said the Doctor. "She tried to bite her. We had to sedate her."

"Bite her?" said Andre, almost dropping his sandwich.

The Doctor nodded. "Look, she's been displaying symptoms similar to what you described your friend as having. It's safe to say that they have the same disease. Given the current situation, I think it's best that we quarantine these two."

"Sure," said Robbie.

"You three should leave," said the Doctor.

"But we're here friends," said Andre.

"Yes, and you could be exposing yourselves to the same disease that's infected them," said the Doctor.

"But Jade only caught the disease after Tori bit her," said Robbie. "So if she doesn't bite us, we should be fine."

"We don't know how the disease spreads," said the Doctor. "You could already be exposed to it. That's why we're thinking of putting you three under observation."

"So if we're going to be under observation, we should just stay here until you're sure we're fine," said Andre.

"We're not going to risk exposing you to this infection," said the Doctor, who put his hands on Andre's shoulders and went to move him.

Andre refused to move. "Look, I don't care what-"

"Andre," said Tori. "Just go."

Andre looked hurt. "You want me to go?"

"I don't want you catching whatever I've got," said Tori. "Don't worry, I'll be fine on my own. I'm sure Jade will be good company once she wakes up."

"If you insist." Andre, Robbie, and Cat left the hospital room. Before leaving, Andre gave Tori a regretful look, but then turned to leave. Tori sighed and put her head down on the pillow. It was going to be a long night.


	3. Chapter 3

"You're awake." That was the first thing Jade could hear after opening her eyes. She could barely see, much less make out her surroundings. To make matters worse, she had a headache. To her, the noise sounded like someone was banging a hammer on her forehead. However, she did recognize the voice.

"T...Tori?" said Jade, trying to get up from her bed. As she sat up, she realized there was something digging into her wrists and ankles.

"Yep, it's me," said Tori.

Jade groaned. She looked down to see she was tied down with leather straps, which prevented her arms and legs from moving. "Jesus Christ Vega, what did you do to me?"

"I didn't do anything," said Tori. "We're under quarantine."

"Oh yeah," said Jade. "And I wouldn't be under quarantine if you hadn't bitten me."

"Well sorry about that," said Tori. "But I was on extra strength cough syrup at the time."

"I've been on extra strength cough syrup before," said Jade. "Pretty sure I've never bitten someone."

"According to the doctors, you just did," said Tori.

"I did not!" said Jade.

"They told me you tried to bite a nurse," said Tori.

"That's a lie," said Jade. "The nurse was being a bitch and decided to jab me in the butt with a needle."

"I'm sure that's how it went down," said Tori.

Jade struggled against the leather straps. "I'm thirsty. I need something to drink."

"They put you on an IV drip so you don't get dehydrated," said Tori. "You should be fine."

"I need something to drink." Jade continued to fight against her restraints, trying to break free. She grunted as the leather dug into her skin. Soon she felt something warm dripping down from her nose.

"Uh Jade," said Tori.

"What?" said Jade.

"You've got a nosebleed," said Tori.

Jade tried to wipe the blood off on her shoulder. She looked back at Tori. "Yeah? Well so do you."

Tori turned towards the window by her bed, checking out her reflection. "You're right."

"Yeah, I'm right," said Jade.

"I'm thirsty," said Tori.

* * *

Andre slapped the door. "Come on! You can't keep us here! I'm pretty sure that's illegal."

"They think we might be exposed to an infectious disease," said Robbie. "Legally they can hold us for observation."

"But Tori didn't even bite us," said Andre. "Jade only got sick after Tori bit her. Logically, we're safe."

"They don't even know what Tori's got," said Robbie. "Who's to say the disease only spreads by biting. We could already be exposed to it."

"If we were already exposed to it," said Andre. "We'd be showing symptoms by now."

"That's right," said Cat. "We're not sick. Yay."

"Maybe," said Robbie. "Maybe Jade's got a weakened immune system and it affected her faster."

"Oh, so now you're an expert on diseases?" said Andre.

"No," said Robbie. "I'm just saying we should do what the doctors say."

"This one time a doctor told my brother he had to stay somewhere for a week," said Cat. "He sneaked out through the laundry chute."

"That's nice," said Robbie. He turned back to Andre. "Look, I get that you're angry, but I think things will work out best if we just stay here."

"There's no laundry chute in this room," said Andre.

"What?" said Robbie.

"No laundry chute," said Andre. "Cat said her brother snuck out using a laundry chute, but there's no laundry chute around here. We're going to have to find another way to sneak out."

"Sneak out?" said Robbie. "Did you not hear a word I said?"

"I did," said Andre, looking around the room. "I'm just choosing to ignore it. Maybe we could escape through the window."

"The window!" said Robbie. "Sure, go ahead. I'm pretty sure it's bulletproof, and even if you managed to break it, there's still a three story drop to the ground."

"I once read this movie where this girl escaped from her window by tying her bedsheets together," said Cat.

"That's actually a good idea," said Andre.

"Cat!" said Robbie.

"What?" said Cat.

"Why'd you give him ideas?" said Robbie.

"I didn't mean to," said Cat. "I saw you guys were arguing and so I figured I'd change the subject."

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have changed the subject to someone trying to escape from their window," said Robbie.

"Okay, I hear you," said Cat. "Hey Andre, have you seen any good movies lately?"

"Yeah," said Andre, who was currently stripping the sheets off his bed. "It's called _The Great Escape_."

"Oh cool, what's that about?" said Cat. She turned to Robbie. "Am I doing good?"

Robbie walked over to Andre. "Look, let's think about this logically. Let's say you manage to escape from here, what would you do?"

"I'd go over to Tori and Jade's room and I guess I'd stay there 'till they get better," said Andre.

"So that's all you're going to do, keep them company?" said Robbie.

"Well yeah," said Andre. "I'm not a doctor. I can't cure whatever they've got."

"Exactly," said Robbie. "You can't help them. The best you can do is keep them company."

"That's got to count for something," said Andre. "If they feel happy, maybe they'll recover faster."

"What if you catch the disease?" said Robbie.

"I'm not," said Andre. "I'll stay far enough away that they can't bite me."

"And what if that's not how the disease spreads?" said Robbie. "How do you know that you want get exposed to it anyways?"

"If I get sick, I'll be fine," said Andre.

"How do you know that?" said Robbie.

"I don't!" said Andre. "All I know is that I can't let Tori be alone."

"I don't want her to be alone either," said Robbie. "But there's nothing we can do."

"Sure there is," said Andre.

"Okay, like what?" said Robbie.

"We can escape through the window," said Andre.

"Really?" said Robbie. "You think you can break through bulletproof glass?"

"I can try," said Andre. "If I hit it hard enough I can break it."

"Okay," said Robbie. "Let's say you do that. Are you sure your bedsheets can hold your weight?"

"Why wouldn't they?" said Andre.

Robbie went over to his bed and grabbed his bed sheet. He held it up for Andre to see and ripped it. "These have the tensile strength of paper. And even if these could hold your weight, there's no guarantee that someone won't see you and alert security."

"I...I've got to do something," said Andre. He sat down on his bed, his head in his hand.

Robbie went over to Andre and put his hand on the other boy's shoulder. "There's nothing you can do."

* * *

Dr. Anderson was standing in the hallway, looking at a chart. Dr. Hartman approached him. Dr. Anderson looked up. "Hey, how are things progressing?"

Dr. Hartman shook his head. "There's no disease that matches the symptoms we've been seeing. We've sent their blood samples to the lab. Hopefully we'll know what it is in a few days."

Dr. Anderson sighed. "Until then, I guess we'll have to keep up the quarantine."

"I wish we knew more," said Dr. Hartman.

Dr. Anderson looked at the chart. "Did the one girl really try to attack a nurse?"

"Yes," said Dr. Hartman. "Right after her friend bit her."

"It's like something out of a horror film," said Dr. Anderson.

Just then, a nurse ran up to the two doctors. "Doctor...you need to see this."

"What is it?" said Dr. Hartman.

"The girls," said the nurse. "They're...they're...you just have to see for yourself."

Dr. Hartman and Anderson followed the nurse to the quarantine room. They opened the door and saw the two girls. Both had cuts on their bodies, likely self-inflicted, and were trying to lap up the blood from their wounds. The two hissed as the doctors approached them. Dr. Hartman's jaw dropped. Dr. Anderson turned to the nurse. "Give them both a sedative. Now!"


	4. Chapter 4

Dr. Anderson groaned. In front of him was Dr. Hartman, who stood in front of a white board, which contained all the information they had on their patients. "So, let's look at the facts."

"Yes," said Dr. Hartman.

"Girl gets sick, passes out a school," said Dr. Anderson.

"Yes," said Dr. Hartman.

"She's given extra strength cold medicine, which knocks her out," said Dr. Anderson.

"Yep," said Dr. Hartman.

"Her friends come over that night," said Dr. Anderson. "She bites one of her friends and licks up the blood."

"If her friends are to be believed," said Dr. Hartman.

"Friends take her to the hospital," said Dr. Anderson. "The friend that got bitten tries to bite one of the nurses."

"Right," said Dr. Hartman.

"And while she does this, she's complains that she's thirsty," said Dr. Anderson.

"According to the nurse and security," said Dr. Hartman.

"The two then start biting themselves and lick their own blood," said Dr. Anderson. "All the while complaining that they're still thirsty. This is after we gave them an IV drip so they don't get thirsty."

"We were both there," said Dr. Hartman.

"Am I missing anything?" said Dr. Anderson.

"Both had nosebleeds before they started biting people," said Dr. Hartman.

"Right," said Dr. Anderson. "Well, it looks like they want to drink blood."

"Maybe they got bitten by a vampire," said Dr. Hartman. He chuckled, but quickly stopped when Dr. Anderson gave him a harsh look. The two looked back at the white board. "Okay, the two want to drink blood, right?"

"We established that," said Dr. Anderson.

"And every time they try to drink blood, they've experienced blood lose in the form of a nosebleed," said Dr. Hartman.

"Do you think the two are connected?" said Dr. Anderson.

"Here me out," said Dr. Hartman. "What if they want to drink blood to recover the blood they lost?"

"Well, that's ridiculous," said Dr. Anderson. "By your logic, every time someone gets a nose bleed or a nasty cut, they should want to drink blood."

"But what if the disease is doing this?" said Dr. Hartman. "Bacteria can cause people to have cravings. Maybe the disease does the same thing. It causes the subject to crave blood and causes the nose bleed to amplify the need for blood."

"Well, it's possible that the pathogen causes a craving for blood," said Dr. Anderson. "Possible, but I don't know how probable it is. Your whole theory is far-fetched."

"Okay," said Dr. Hartman. "Let's try an experiment."

"I'm listening," said Dr. Anderson.

"These girls want blood," said Dr. Hartman. "Why don't we give it to them?"

"You want to give these girls blood to drink?" said Dr. Anderson.

"No," said Dr. Hartman. "Let's give the two blood transfusions."

"No," said Dr. Anderson.

"It could cure their cravings for blood," said Dr. Hartman.

"No," said Dr. Anderson. "I'm not going to waste blood on two patients who don't need it, just to test your theory."

"Well what's the alternative?" said Dr. Hartman. "Keep them sedated until the disease goes away, if it ever does?"

"It makes more sense then what you're suggesting," said Dr. Anderson. "Keeping them immobilize so they can't hurt themselves is better than giving them unnecessary blood transfusions. We can't afford to lose blood if we don't have to. Besides, we still haven't gotten the results of the tests back. We could find out what this disease is and formulate the treatment around that. Besides, we need the permission of their parents before we can do any experiments. We haven't been able to contact either of these girls' parents. What about their friends?"

"Excuse me?" said Dr. Hartman.

"Their friends," said Dr. Anderson. "We kept them under observation in case they showed symptoms similar to the two girls."

"Right," said Dr. Hartman. "Well, none of the three have shown signs of infection."

"Interesting," said Dr. Anderson. "So, this disease probably spreads through biting?"

"Maybe," said Dr. Hartman. "We're still keeping them under observation just in case."

"Right," said Dr. Anderson. "Didn't she have a sister?"

"She does," said Dr. Hartman. "She's under observation too, but we've kept her away from the other three."

"I see," said Dr. Anderson. "I'm just thinking, maybe her friends could give us some clues as to how she got infected. Maybe we could interview them and ask them if they know anything."

"Of course," said Dr. Hartman, walking out of the room. "I'll arrange for it to happen now."

* * *

Tori was no longer in her hospital bed. The last thing she remembered, someone stabbed her with a needle and everything went dark. Now, Tori was standing on a street corner. Other people were walking down the street, giving her dirty looks as they passed her. She looked around to get a sense of where she was, but couldn't recognize her surroundings. She was in what looked like a village somewhere. There was a thick fog that covered the street. It kind of reminded her of the time she spent in Yerba, but the area wasn't as advanced as Yerba. While Yerba was poorer than America, it at least had some amenities and the people wore modern looking clothes. There were also cars in Yerba. This village looked like it was at least two hundred years behind present day. The clothes resembled something Medieval peasants would wear and horses could be seen on the street. A cart carrying hay almost hit Tori.

Tori quickly jumped out of the way to avoid getting hit by the cart. She leaned up against a nearby building to catch her breath. After calming down, she spotted a girl who was walking down the street with an older man, presumably her father. Tori jogged up to them. "Hey guys, I'm so sorry to bother you but I'm kind of lost. Can you tell me where I am?"

The girl screamed and her father put his arms around her. The two rushed into a nearby building. Tori looked around. Most of the other people on the street had, or were in the processing of clearing out. The few that remained were giving Tori angry looks. She started to sweat. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare her. I'm new here and I don't know where I am."

The people who remained on the streets started to march towards Tori, their glares becoming more intense. Tori started to back away from them as they advanced. She could see that there wasn't anyone to her right and headed in that direction. She walked at a steady pace, glancing back at the advancing crowd. They were getting closer and closer. Some of the members of the crowd looked familiar. Tori swore she could see Andre, Cat, and Robbie in the crowd. One of the guys in the crowd even looked a bit like Beck. Tori quickened her pace. At this point they were practically on top of her. She broke out into a run. She tore down the street, not looking back at the crowd. After running a few blocks, Tori tripped. She landed on her hands, which experienced a jolt of pain. Tori looked back at her pursuers, only to see that they were gone.

She got up. She looked down at her hands, to see that they were bleeding. She must've cut her palms when she fell. Her knees were sore. She groaned. Tori stumbled down the street, looking out for other people. Whenever she saw someone else, she quickly hid. She wasn't going to make the mistake of asking for help again. As she continued down the street, she saw a giant mirror placed outside a building. Based off the sign in front of the building and the noises coming from inside, Tori guessed it was some kind of bar or tavern. She couldn't read the language on the sign, so she could only guess. Tori looked into the mirror, but she couldn't see her reflection.

* * *

Andre, Robbie, and Cat sat in their room. At this point, they had tried to get some sleep, but none of them could. Too excited. The only thing they could do was sit on their bed and wait for morning. Despite being wide awake, none of them tried talking to each other. Not since the argument between Andre and Robbie had anyone uttered a word. Cat especially had seemed to be trying to avoid making a sound. As the three waited, they heard the intercom buzz. "Andre Harris, Robbie Shapiro, Cat Valentine."

"Yes," said Robbie.

"That's us," said Andre. "Why are you asking?"

"Hello," said the voice on the intercom. "My name is Dr. Anderson. I just need to ask you a few questions."

"About what?" said Andre.

"About your friend," said Dr. Anderson. "Tori Vega."


	5. Chapter 5

Andre was the first to speak, walking up to the intercom. "What do you want to know about Tori?"

"We need a timeline," said Dr. Anderson. "We've created a timeline starting from when she passed out to right now. We need to know what happened before that. Did you guys see anything? Was she showing symptoms before then? Did she mention something? Did she start doing anything new?"

"I didn't see her before class," said Andre. "You should ask Trina. She would know."

"We're going to ask her after we're done with you guys," said Dr. Anderson. "So, did any of you see her before class?"

"I didn't," said Robbie.

Cat sheepishly raised her hand. "I did."

"What was she like?" said Dr. Anderson.

"She looked kind of sick," said Cat.

"Really?" said Dr. Anderson. "Explain."

"Well, her face was kind of red," said Cat. "And she looked like she was sweating."

"Interesting," said Dr. Anderson. "Do you remember anything else?"

"No," said Cat. "That's all I remember."

"I see," said Dr. Anderson. "Well, this was helpful. I'll talk to Tori's sister now."

"Wait," said Andre. "Are you just going to leave us here?"

"I'll send someone to check in on you in a few hours," said Dr. Anderson.

"Can we leave?" said Andre into the intercom. All he heard in response was a beep, signifying that Dr. Anderson had left.

* * *

"We need to know about your sister," said Dr. Anderson over the intercom.

"If I answer your questions, will you let me go?" said Trina.

"This has nothing to do with that," said Dr. Anderson. "We're going to hold you until we're sure you're not infected. Now can I ask my questions?"

"What's in it for me?" said Trina.

"Well, hopefully this helps us treat your sister," said Dr. Anderson.

"Right," said Trina. "Well ask away."

"Alright," said Dr. Anderson. "We need to know what she was doing the morning of the day she got sick. Was she acting any different that day?"

"Not really," said Trina. "She was acting the same as always."

"Really?" said Dr. Anderson. "Because her friend Cat told us she was looking sick that day."

"She was?" said Trina. "What'd Cat say."

"According to her, Tori's face was red and she was sweating," said Dr. Anderson.

"Oh, I know what's she's talking about," said Trina. "So our car broke down before we got to school and we had to run the rest of the way. That was why her face was red and she was all sweaty."

"I see," said Dr. Anderson. Trina heard the sound of a pen scratching against paper. "Well, did you notice anything off about her that day. Anything at all. Try to think."

"She had a cut when she woke up," said Trina. "I remember that."

"A cut?" said Dr. Anderson.

"Yeah, on her neck," said Trina. "I think it was just a zit that popped during the night, but it was kind of big."

"How big?" said Dr. Anderson.

"Not too big," said Trina. "But kind of big for a zit. She needed a band-aid."

"We didn't see a cut on your sister's neck," said Dr. Anderson.

"Maybe it's healed by now," said Trina.

"If that's the case, then it healed pretty quickly," said Dr. Anderson. Trina heard the sound of pen against paper again. "Well thanks Trina. You've been helpful."

"Don't mention it. Hey, can I get out now?" said Trina, all the intercom went silent.

* * *

Dr. Hartman sat at his desk, listening to the recordings of Dr. Anderson's interview with their patient's friends and family. Once he had finished, he looked at Dr. Anderson. "So, she had a cut on her neck?"

"According to her sister," said Dr. Anderson. "If that's the case, it could be how she got infected. The problem is no one's noticed any cuts on the girl."

"To be fair," said Dr. Hartman. "We never looked if she had a cut on her neck. Maybe we should look for it, just to be safe."

"Sure," said Dr. Anderson. "Send some nurses to examine the Vega girl's neck for any cuts."

"Will do." Dr. Hartman got up from his desk and prepared to do what Dr. Anderson told him to.

"You know, if we do find a cut, you might be right," said Dr. Anderson.

"About what?" said Dr. Hartman.

"You had a theory that she was bitten by a vampire," said Dr. Anderson. "If she's got a cut on her neck, maybe a vampire bit her."

"So you think she might've been attacked by a vampire," said Dr. Hartman, a bright smile forming on his face.

"No, it's a joke," said Dr. Anderson.

"Oh." The smile disappeared from Dr. Hartman's face and he trudged out of the room.

* * *

Tori was shivering. She looked around her. The surrounding area was now completely empty. She'd tried to hide in case another mob came around, but she didn't see anyone. She was outside the bar and could hear the noises coming from inside, but no one seemed to leave or enter. She wandered around the street, still being careful not to be seen. However, as she explored the nearby road, she realized the village was now empty. She could find no one also on the street. While earlier she'd seen carts and horses traveling by, none of them had appeared for a while. Tori realized that she was completely alone. A chill ran down her spine, sending her hair on end. She turned around, looking for any sign of life, to no avail. She decided to go back to the bar. At least the sounds of merriment would give her some company. When she turned to go back, Tori could see someone standing in the middle of the road. "Jade?"

"Hey Tori." Jade was wearing a lacy black dress. It had a high collar and the skirt was cut above the knee. Tori noted it was very revealing. Around her neck was a black chocker that had a big ornamental skull in the front of it. The skull's eye had two red rubies in it.

"Hey Jade," said Tori. "What are you doing here?"

"Just checking in on my friend." Jade gave Tori a smile, that caused her heart to skip a beat.

"Where are we?" said Tori. "Why you wearing that?"

"We're home." Jade took a step towards Tori. Tori took a step backwards, only to run into a brick wall. "And this? I just decided to try out a new look. You like it?"

"This isn't home." Tori was shaking. Jade had gotten so close to her, that she was practically touching her.

"Sure it is," said Jade. "Don't you recognize it?"

"No," said Tori. "We've never been here."

"Well you will," said Jade. She ran her hand up Tori's arm and to her collar. She grabbed Tori's chin. "Don't worry, soon everything will be clear."

"No!" Tori shoved Jade, who stumbled backwards before regaining her balance. She looked back to Tori and laughed.

"Nice try Tori, but sooner or later you'll have to come to terms with the truth," said Jade.

"And what's that?" said Tori.

"You'll see," said Jade, laughing.

"Stop laughing!" Tori ran after Jade, who simply stepped out of the way before Tori could catch her. Tori tripped and landed on the street. She turned around to see Jade still standing there. She got up and made fists, which caused Jade to laugh some more.

"Is Tori going to hit me?" said Jade. "Oh I'm so scared. I wouldn't want you to hurt me."

"Stay away from me," said Tori. "Stay far away from me."

"What?" said Jade. "I'm just standing here. Am I bothering you?"

"Go away!" Tori threw a punch at Jade. Jade caught it and squeezed Tori's handing, sending a jolt of pain through her arm. "Let go of me!"

"If you insist." Jade let go of Tori, but not before pushing her down to the street. As soon as Tori hit the ground, she opened her eyes and found herself laying in her hospital bed. A group of nurses stood around her.

* * *

Dr. Hartman walked into Dr. Anderson's office. Dr. Anderson looked up. "Did you find it?"

"Yes," said Dr. Hartman. "Actually, there's two cuts on the back of her neck."

"Interesting," said Dr. Anderson. "I can't believe we missed them."

"Well they are kind of hard to find and we weren't looking for them," said Dr. Hartman. "But that's not all."

"What else did you find?" said Dr. Anderson.

"We didn't find anything," said Dr. Hartman. "She's awake. The Vega girl woke up when we were examining her."

"Good," said Dr. Anderson. "I want to talk to her."


	6. Chapter 6

Dr. Anderson could see Dr. Hartman talking with a nurse outside the quarantine room. She seemed nervous and Dr. Hartman appeared to be trying to calm her down. Dr. Anderson walked up to them. Dr. Hartman turned to greet him. "Hey, it seems there's been a new development in the Tori Vega case."

"What is it?" said Dr. Anderson. "Is she showing new symptoms?"

"Not exactly," said Dr. Hartman. "When she woke up, she started muttering something. What was it?"

"She kept saying 'I don't want to be here'." said the nurse. "She kept repeating it over and over again."

"Interesting," said Dr. Anderson. "Is she still doing it?"

"Yes," said the nurse.

Dr. Anderson sighed. "Well were you able to get a swab from the cuts?"

"Yes," said the nurse.

"Well, we can analyze that in the lab," said Dr. Anderson. "Hopefully that can give us some new clues about what infected her. In the mean time, I'll try to talk to her."

"Are you sure you want to do that right now?" said Dr. Hartman. "Why not wait until she's calmed down?"

"I want to get this over with," said Dr. Anderson. "Besides, if I talk to her, maybe I can snap her out of this."

"If you insist," said Dr. Hartman. "But don't be surprised if she doesn't give you any answers."

* * *

"I don't want to be here. I don't want to be here. This isn't my home." Tori had now been moved to another room, separated from Jade. After her dream, she was glad to be as far away from Jade as she could. The new room looked the same as the other room, albeit slightly smaller. Tori was still strapped down to her bed. "This isn't my home. This isn't my home."

"Yes, we're sorry this isn't your home," said a voice from the intercom. "You were very sick and had to be hospitalized."

"This isn't my home," said Tori.

"I see," said the voice on the intercom. "Well, my name is Dr. Anderson. I was thinking of asking you some questions. Is that okay?"

"I don't want to go back there," said Tori.

"Back where?" said Dr. Anderson. "To your home?"

"That wasn't my home," said Tori.

"Where is your home?" said Dr. Anderson.

"Not there," said Tori. "I don't want to go back there."

"Where were you?" said Dr. Anderson.

Tori stayed in her bed shivering, waiting to respond. "I don't know."

"Well try describing it to me," said Dr. Anderson.

"It was a village," said Tori. "I don't no where."

"A village?" said Dr. Anderson.

"Real old," said Tori. "Like from the Victorian era. No cars. Only horses."

"It sounds to me like you just had a bad dream," said Dr. Anderson. "You're safe here in LA."

"Jade was there," said Tori.

"Your friend?" said Dr. Anderson.

"She told me I would learn the truth," said Tori.

"What truth?" said Dr. Anderson.

"She didn't tell me," said Tori. "Just told me I'd find it out eventually."

"I see," said Dr. Anderson. "I can see that your dream really affected you. How about I come back later when you've recovered."

Tori didn't respond, simply staying quiet. Eventually a beep came from the intercom, signaling that Dr. Anderson had left. Now Tori was completely alone.

* * *

Dr. Anderson and Dr. Hartman just stared at their whiteboard. Both looked frustrated. "Okay, so she had a bad dream."

"It appears so," said Dr. Anderson. "She seems to be pretty shaken up by it."

"Well, hopefully she calms down and we can interview her," said Dr. Hartman. "Still, it's just a dream. It's not like it's a new symptom."

"Maybe," said Dr. Anderson. "But the nightmare could be because of her sickness. A fever dream of sorts."

"But her temperature's normal," said Dr. Hartman.

"Could be just the stress of her being sick," said Dr. Anderson. "This is starting to get spooky."

"It's just starting?" said Dr. Hartman.

"It was a weird dream apparently," said Dr. Anderson. "The way she talked about it, it sounded like something out of a horror film."

"Well, it's still going to take a while before we get any results from the lab," said Dr. Hartman.

"What about the other girl?" said Dr. Anderson. "Jade West?"

"She's still out," said Dr. Hartman. "After what she did to the other nurse, I think it was decided to give her a little extra sedative."

"Well, how about you inform me when she wakes up," said Dr. Anderson. "I'd like to talk to her too. See if she's experiencing similar symptoms to her friend."

"You mean having nightmares?" said Dr. Hartman.

"Yes," said Dr. Anderson. "Let's see if she's also having nightmares."

"Are you suggesting that these nightmares are infectious?" said Dr. Hartman.

"No," said Dr. Anderson. "But given the nightmare had such a big effect on Tori, I want to see if Jade is experiencing anything similar."

"Alright," said Dr. Harman. "I'll check in on her."

"Good," said Dr. Anderson. "While you're at it, let's let their friends go."

"You mean the kids we have under observation?" said Dr. Hartman.

"Yes," said Dr. Anderson. "We've held them long enough and they don't seem to be showing symptoms."

"I'll do that before I check in on Jade," said Dr. Hartman as he left the office. Dr. Anderson looked at the whiteboard, which had listed all the symptoms and information they had on the two girls. He thought about Dr. Hartman's theory that the two girls had been bitten by a vampire. While he'd dismissed it earlier, he was starting to wonder if it weren't all that crazy. Of course, it probably wasn't the case, but he half wanted it to be true. Not because he liked the idea of vampires walking about, but it would at least be something he could comprehend. He hated the idea of not know what disease they were dealing with. That bothered him more than any monster Dr. Hartman could think of.

* * *

Tori looked around her new room. It was mostly the same as the other room she was in, the only real different was Jade wasn't there. She continued to shiver. Since Dr. Anderson had left, Tori was all alone. As much as she hated Jade, she wanted her company. Literally having anyone else there would be preferable to being all by herself. Tori naturally did better when other people were around. Not to mention, with no one else around, Tori was left alone with her thoughts. Since she'd awaken, all Tori could think about was the nightmare she'd had. Truth be told, it wasn't the worst nightmare she'd had, but the thing just felt so real. She felt the pavement when she landed on it, Jade's hands as she touched her, and the chilling fog as it closed in on her. It was far too real for any normal nightmare. The whole thing was now playing in front of her eyes in a constant loop. She wanted the Doctor to return so that he could at least distract her with his questions.

She looked towards the intercom. They had to be watching her. "Hey guys. I'm ready. Ask away. Ask me something!"

There was no response, and Tori just lay in her bed. Tears started to well up in her eyes. She wanted to turn over and shove her face in her pillow, but the restraints prevented her. She could only just stare up at the ceiling.

* * *

Andre heard a knocking coming from the door to there room. It woke Robbie and Cat. The two had fallen asleep not long after their interview with Dr. Anderson. However, Andre couldn't sleep, not with his friends in danger. He'd just lay their on his bed, waiting for the doctor to come back. When he heard the knocking, he got up from his bed and walked over to the door. However, before he could get there, the door opened and a nurse walked in. Andre had seen her before, but didn't know her name. "Do you need us to do anything?"

"We're letting you go," said the nurse.

"Letting us go?" said Robbie.

"Yes," said the nurse. "Dr. Anderson decided that since you haven't shown symptoms yet, you don't need to be under observation."

"Yay!" said Cat.

"Finally," said Robbie, turning to Andre. "See, we can go now."

"Right," said Andre. He turned to the nurse. "So what about Tori?"

"Tori?" said the nurse.

"Yes, our friend," said Andre. "What about her? Does she get to leave?"

"Sorry," said the nurse. "But your friend is still very sick. She needs to stay under quarantine until she recovers."

"So can we see here?" said Andre.

"Andre," said Robbie. "Don't push it. Remember what I told you."

"Not now," said the nurse. "Dr. Anderson is with her now. Asking her questions."

"Well when she's done, can we see her?" said Andre.

"Come on Andre," said Robbie. "Don't start this again."

"Maybe," said the nurse. "Give her some time. She's not well at the moment."

"I see." Andre sat down on his bed as he got his things. The nurse stepped out of the room, standing by the door. Andre turned to Cat and Robbie. "Maybe, maybe. Why do people say maybe when they mean no?"


	7. Chapter 7

Jade had a splitting headache. She tried opening her eyes, but was blinded by lights. She winced and went to cover them up with her arms, but they couldn't move. Jade realized that she was still in the hospital. After a while, her eyes adjusted to the light and she could see her surroundings. She looked around to see what was going on. She was still in the quarantine room. She could see that Tori and her bed were gone. Other than that, things were the same as when she last remembered it. Jade also noticed that she had bandages on her body. There was the one on her shoulder where Tori had bitten her, but there were also new ones. She didn't remember how she got those injuries.

She was alone in the room. Tori was gone and there were no nurses or doctors in the room. She tried to sit up, but the restraints prevented her. She wondered why Tori was gone. Probably, she'd gotten better. Lucky Tori. Everything always turned up good for her. She always got the best parts and every guy was interested in her. Of course, Tori would recover faster while she had to be strapped to a bed for days, slowly rotting away. Tori and the gang had probably forgotten about her and were spending the night painting the town red. Maybe they'd hop on a plane and visit Beck in Georgia, because of course they would. Why bother staying to keep Jade company, when they could be partying with a film crew in another state.

When Beck had gotten the role, Jade had been supportive like a good girlfriend was supposed to be. She may have warned him to stay away from other girls, but that was a perfectly normal concern considering he was on the other side of the country. It wasn't her fault he took it badly and complained about her being "controlling" and "possessive" and "paranoid". And besides, it's not like Beck couldn't have gotten her a role in the movie too, so that the two of them could be in Georgia together. If he'd done that, she wouldn't have to worry about him cheating on her.

Anyways, Jade couldn't focus on Beck for too long. Ever since the two had started dating, and a little bit before that, Jade had worried that Beck would leave her for another girl. In the end, worrying about it did nothing, except upsetting her. She kept herself sane by pushing these thoughts out of her mind. This didn't work all the time, especially now with Beck being gone, but it did feel better than constantly ruminating on the idea of him being with someone else.

At that moment, Jade heard a buzzing sound. "Hello, Jade West."

"Yeah," said Jade. "Who wants to know."

"My name's Dr. Anderson," said the voice on the intercom.

"Do you know what's wrong with me?" said Jade. "And where's Tori? Did she get better?"

"No to both," said Dr. Anderson. "We had to move her to another room after she woke up."

"She got worse?" said Jade, resisting the urge to smile. Well, it looked like not everything was going Tori's way. Sure it was petty, but she had to take what she could.

"She's fine," said Dr. Anderson. "Well, stable. But she is a bit unsettled."

"Oh, poor Tori," said Jade.

"Anyways," said Dr. Anderson. "I want to ask you some questions. Is that okay?"

"Sure," said Jade.

"Good," said Dr. Anderson. "We've been trying to trace Tori's steps back to see when she got infected. Do you know what Tori was doing before she started showing symptoms?"

"No," said Jade. "I'm not joined at her hip. Crazy thought I know."

"Well is there anything you can tell us?" said Dr. Anderson. "You were in class with her that day. Am I correct?"

"Yeah," said Jade. "Let's see. She got up in front of class, recited her line, and then passed out. That's all I can tell you."

"I see." Jade could hear the sound of a pen scribbling on a piece of paper. "Well, is there anything else you can tell us?"

"Not really," said Jade.

"Are you sure?" said Dr. Anderson. "You were at her house when she bit you."

"Yeah, thanks for reminding me," said Jade.

"I was wondering if you saw anything off at her home," said Dr. Anderson.

"You know, now that you mention it, I did see something weird in Tori's room," said Jade.

"What was it?" said Dr. Anderson.

"Well, in her room, Tori has a poster for Shelby Marx," said Jade. "The MMA fighter."

"And this was unusual?" said Dr. Anderson.

"Yeah," said Jade. "Like I get she was a big deal awhile ago, but she got lame after she got beaten by that Carly chick. I thought it was weird."

"I see," said Dr. Anderson. "Well, thanks for your time."

"Don't mention it," said Jade. "Can I go now? I'm feeling fine."

"We'll see," said Dr. Anderson. The intercom beeped, indicating it had been shut off. Jade sighed and looked back up at the ceiling, trying to pass the time by counting ceiling tiles. Then she heard the intercom turn on again. "Jade?"

"Yes," said Jade.

"Before I leave, do you mind if I ask you if you've had any unusual dreams?" said Dr. Anderson.

"Dreams?" said Jade.

"Yes, I know it's an odd question," said Dr. Anderson. "But did you have any dreams of note lately."

"Um, last night I had a dream I was this badass vampire chick," said Jade.

"A vampire?" said Dr. Anderson.

"Yeah," said Jade. "I was in like this old timey village, going around and drinking peoples' blood. It was cool."

"Interesting," said Dr. Anderson. "Well thanks. You've been helpful."

"Thanks," said Jade.

* * *

Dr. Hartman looked at Dr. Anderson with a raised eyebrow. "She dreamt she was a vampire?"

"Yes," said Dr. Anderson. "Everything leads back to vampires. Why?"

"Well," said Dr. Hartman. "They do seem to have an affinity for blood."

"No," said Dr. Anderson.

"I'm just making an observation," said Dr. Hartman. "Whatever conclusion you draw is your own."

"What if they just watched a vampire movie a while ago?" said Dr. Anderson. "That's why they're having these nightmares."

"Sure," said Dr. Hartman. "But it's a pretty big coincidence."

Dr. Anderson sighed. "Has the Vega girl calmed down yet? I want to know if I can interview her again."

"No," said Dr. Hartman. "She stopped muttering, but she's crying."

"Well, maybe we can interview her when she's feeling better," said Dr. Anderson.

"I'll check on her again," said Dr. Hartman. "If she's feeling better, I'll interview her."

"No," said Dr. Anderson. "I'll interview her. You can interview the West girl if we need to ask her anymore questions. You up for that?"

"Sure," said Dr. Hartman. "I can handle an interview with a teenager."

"I'm sure you can," said Dr. Anderson.

* * *

Debbie resisted the urge to yawn. She'd been up for hours, but she couldn't nod off. Currently, she was dealing with a long line of patients, many of which were difficult. One patient in particular had a rash, which she demanded be treated immediately. Debbie had tried to calm her down, but she refused to sit down until some doctor had a looked at her rash. It took half an hour to get her to comply. It seemed like things were quieting down, at least relatively, as the line of patients was getting smaller. However, the hospital still was very busy.

Debbie got herself a coffee to keep her awake, and when she returned, she saw a man standing in front of the help desk. He looked somewhat young and had scraggly brown hair. He wore a leather jacket, making him look like a biker. "Hello, can I help you."

"Yes," said the Man. "I'm Jacob. Jacob Vega. I'm here to see my niece. I just heard she was sick."


	8. Chapter 8

Andre, Cat, Robbie, and Trina sat together at a table in the hospital cafeteria. Andre ate a burger, while Cat had a plate of spaghetti. Neither Robbie nor Trina ate anything. Robbie didn't have any money on him and Trina didn't want to eat hospital food. "So how long do you want to stay here?"

"Until your sister recovers," said Andre.

"That could take days," said Trina. "Maybe even weeks."

"I guess we'll have a sleepover," said Cat. "Yay!"

"We don't have to stay here all night," said Robbie. "We can go to my house for the night and come back to visit her in the morning."

"You can do that," said Andre. "But I'll wait here until she gets better."

"Why?" said Robbie. "What difference does it make if we wait for her here or at my house?"

"I want to be here when she gets out of quarantine," said Andre.

"You know how long that could be?" said Robbie.

"No, and I don't care," said Andre.

"Well, I'm not staying here and I'm not staying at Robbie's house," said Trina. "No offense."

"None taken," said Robbie.

"Cat, can I stay at your house?" said Trina.

"Sure," said Cat. "But you might have to share a room with my brother."

"Okay," said Trina. "Well, I'm sure it won't be too bad."

"That's what they all say," said Cat.

At that moment, a nurse walked up to their table and stood by Trina. "Yes, what do you want?"

"There's a man who came here to see your sister," said the nurse. "He says he's your uncle."

"Yes," said a man who was dressed like a biker. He walked up to the table. "Jacob Vega."

"Uncle Jacob?" said Trina. "I don't think I know you."

"Probably not," said Jacob. "Last time I saw you, you were still a toddler."

"Right, well it makes sense why I wouldn't remember you then," said Trina.

"Here," said Jacob, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a photograph. It showed three adults. Two of them were unmistakably Tori and Trina's parents. The third adult was Jacob. Tori and Trina's Mom was holding a baby in her arms, while their father held the hand of a toddler. Everyone at the table looked at it.

"Wow," said Trina. "It's like you haven't aged a day."

"Anyways, I heard about what happened with your sister," said Jacob. "And I knew your parents were out of town. I was thinking of checking in on her and telling your Mom and Dad about how she's doing."

"Well, she's under quarantine," said Trina.

Jacob nodded his head. "Will she be alright?"

"She's stable," said the nurse. "We should be able to treat her once we know what infected her."

"Can I see her?" said Jacob.

"I've tried to get them to let us visit," said Andre. "Apparently they don't want anybody seeing her."

"We can arrange a visit for you Jacob," said the nurse.

"What?" said Andre. "So now you're letting people visit her?"

"Well he's family and an adult," said the nurse.

"She's family," said Andre, pointing to Trina. "And I'm pretty sure she turned eighteen a long time ago."

"Don't say it like that," said Trina. "You make it sound like I'm ancient."

"Well you can come visit her with Jacob," said the nurse.

Andre sighed. "Fine. Better late than never."

"Great," said Jacob. "When can we see her?"

"I can go tell her doctors about your arrival and make arrangements," said the nurse. "You can finish your meal in the meantime."

* * *

Tori had nodded off briefly, enjoying a small nap. She'd been trying to stay awake to avoid having another nightmare. However, eventually she got tired. Maybe it was all the stress and ordeal she went through. Or maybe it was the drugs still in her system. Regardless what caused it, she'd passed out. It wasn't for too long. It felt like she was asleep for two minutes. Soon she heard the buzzing of the intercom, bringing her back to the real world. "Tori Vega?"

"Yes," said Tori weakly. Her head was pounding.

"Your Uncle came here to see you," said a nurse. "We were thinking of letting him talk to you. Maybe your friends could join him. How does that sound?"

"Great," said Tori, in a tone that perhaps was a little too excited. "Send them in."

"Well, they won't be in the room with you," said the nurse. "There's going to be a window separating you guys."

"Sure," said Tori. "When will they be here?"

"In a few minutes," said the nurse. "They're still eating. Once they're done, they'll come over."

"Great," said Tori.

* * *

Dr. Anderson watched as the Vega girl's friends ate dinner with her uncle. He looked at him. He seemed a little young to be their uncle. Just based off his appearance, he looked like he could be their older brother. Yet, apparently the story checked out. According to the nurse, he had a picture with the Vega girl's parents and her sister had vouched for him. Still, something about the situation didn't sit well with Dr. Anderson. Maybe it was how often vampires had come up in this case. Sure, originally he'd dismissed it. It was just Dr. Hartman's crazy theory. Then he heard about Tori's dream. He still didn't believe there was anything unusual, until the West girl also had a similar nightmare. Again, he assumed it was just a coincidence. Maybe the two had just seen a scary movie and were having similar dreams. There was always a logical explanation. However, now a mysterious relative showed up, looking decades younger than he should. Things weren't adding up. It was for this reason that Dr. Anderson was going to observe their meeting with Tori. If anything unusual happened, he would be there.

He could see that they were finally finishing up their dinner. The red-headed girl took forever to finish her spaghetti, spending much of her time playing with her food. Eventually, she finished her food and the group put their plates away. Dr. Anderson approached them, walking up to Tori's uncle. "Hello, Jacob Vega is it?"

"Yes," said Jacob. "And you are?"

"Dr. Anderson. I'm Tori's doctor."

"Oh right," said Jacob. "We were just going to visit her."

"I know," said Dr. Anderson. "I was wondering if I could join you. I want to check up on her."

"Sure," said Jacob. "It's not going get in the way of our visit?"

"No," said Dr. Anderson. "I'll stay out of your way. I just want to watch. To see if Tori's looking better. Don't worry."

"Alright then," said Jacob. He turned to Tori's friends. "Is that fine with you guys?"

"It's fine with me," said Andre. "So long as we get to see Tori."

"Great," said Jacob.

* * *

Jade's headache had gotten worse. While she'd hoped it would go away at first, it refused to go away, intensifying in pain. It had gone beyond being just a splitting headache. It felt like every vein in her head were pulsating with pain. She was going to have to invent a new phrase for this. An apocalyptic headache. That would be it. As Jade ruminated on her pain, she noticed a group of people walking down the hallway through her window. She initially didn't think much of them, but she soon realized they were her friends. Robbie, Cat, Andre, and Trina were walking towards her room. They were joined by two men, neither of which Jade recognized. One was a doctor and the other guy looked like he was college aged. Regardless of who this new guy was, what was important was that Jade could see her friends.

She had been going crazy all by herself. While she didn't much like the company of other people, Jade couldn't stand being alone with her thoughts, constantly worrying about whether or not Beck was cheating on her. At least if she talked with her friends, that would interrupt her stream of thought. She watched as they headed down the hall, approaching her room. She thought about what she'd say. "Hey guys, how's it going." or maybe "Have you tried this? It's awesome." or even "Well, if you don't have anything else to do, I guess I can hang out with you." The last one. That would be what she'd say.

She waited as the reached her room, trying to hide how eager she was to see them visit her. By now, she'd forgotten her headache. However, the group passed her room, not even bothering to look at her. Jade's jaw dropped. How could they ignore her? Then it hit her. They were going to visit Tori, not her. Goddamn Tori Vega. Everybody loved her.

* * *

Tori's head still hurt when her visitors arrived, but she did what she could to ignore it. She was to excited to finally have guests. It didn't matter that she didn't knew who Uncle Jacob was. She'd probably met him a long time ago and had forgotten about him. Her face lit up as she saw her friends walk up the the window at the front of her room. She tried to say something, but couldn't think of what do say. Instead, her eyes ran over them, tears welling up. She took in Cat, Robbie, Andre, and even Trina. Joining them were two men. One was a doctor, and the other was someone she assumed was Uncle Jacob. She raised an eyebrow when she looked at him. He didn't look like he was related to their Dad. Maybe he could've been related to her Mother, but he claimed to be related to her Father. Still, he must've proved he was related if they were letting him visit them. Uncle Jacob leaned into the window and pressed something, presumably the intercom. "Hello Tori. I'm Jacob. We've met before, but you probably don't remember."

"I'm sorry, I don't," said Tori.

"I understand," said Uncle Jacob. "You were a baby at the time."

"That explains it," said Tori.

Jacob laughed and then reached into his pocket to pull something out. "Here, I have a picture."

Andre leaned in towards Jacob. "Hey, can we talk to Tori?"

"Sure," said Jacob. "Here Tori, your friends came to wish you well."

Cat, Robbie, and Andre spoke into the intercom. "Hey Tori. We miss you."

A single tear trailed down Tori's face as she smiled. "Thanks guys."

"How's it been going?" said Andre.

"I'm doing fine," said Tori. "As fine as I can be strapped to a bed."

Her three friends laughed. Robbie spoke next. "Well, I'm sure you'll be fine as soon as the doctors figure out what's wrong with you."

"Yeah," said Cat. "I'm sure you'll be out of here in no time."

"Well, in the mean time we'll be here," said Andre. "Trying to keep you company whenever we can."

"Thanks," said Tori. "You don't know how much this means to me."

"I've got an idea," said Andre.

"You've got really great friends," said Uncle Jacob. He was holding a picture in his hand so that Tori could see it. She could make out what looked like her Mother, Father, and Uncle Jacob. There was also a baby and a toddler in the picture too. He presumably wanted to show it to Tori, but had held back when she started talking to her friends. He turned to Tori. "I'm sorry I have to do this."

"What?" Uncle Jacob punched the window, causing it to shatter. The doctor and Tori's friends ducked as the shards of glass flew through the air. Robbie jumped on Cat, protecting her from the glass. Jacob jumped up through the window and ran to Tori's bed. Tori tried to move, but was held down by the leather straps. Soon Jacob was on top of her. He held up a hand. Tori noticed how long his nails were. He proceeded to scratch the leather with his nails, cutting the leather to pieces. Tori screamed. She tried jumping out of bed and running as far away as she could from Jacob, but he grabbed her and flung her over his shoulder. She kicked and scratched him, but it didn't seem to bother Jacob. He marched over to the wall of the room and punched a hole in it with his free hand. The wall crumbled, revealing the outside. He hopped through it and took off in the night sky.

* * *

There was some commotion going on. Nurses, doctors, and even some security were running down the hallway. Jade craned her neck slightly, trying to see why they were running, but her movement was limited. It was the stupid leather straps, that prevented her from moving. Who was she going to hurt? No one came into the room. Her friends couldn't even be bothered to stop by and visit. The leather straps were protecting no one. Jade looked down at them. She noticed one on her wrist was a bit loose. She gave it a light tug, causing it to loosen some more. She then gave it a large tug, causing it to rip in two. Jade looked at it was an awed look on her face. She turned her attention to the other straps and pulled on them. The remaining three were torn apart like they were made of paper. Jade let out a laugh. Her body felt so strong. She got out of bed and walked over to the window. She wanted to try something. Jade took her arm and punched the window. It shattered into tiny pieces. Now she was free.


	9. Chapter 9

Dr. Anderson was hunched behind a chair in the hospital hallway. He got up to access the damage that Jacob had done. The window was completely destroyed, the floor covered in glass. He made his way around the glass and navigated past Tori's friends. He looked into the quarantine room. Tori was now gone. There was also a hole in the wall, exposing the quarantine room to the night air. He looked at Tori's friends. Everyone looked fine for the most part. That Robbie boy had a small piece of glass in his arm, but that should be easy to remove. Out of the corner of his eye, Dr. Anderson could see a picture on the ground. Jacob had brought it. Anderson picked it up and looked at it. He turned to Trina and showed her the picture. "Did he show this to you?"

"Yes," said Trina. "The told us that was him and our parents when we were still babies."

"This is photoshoped," said Dr. Anderson. "And you believed he was your uncle?"

"Well, I didn't get a good look at it," said Trina. "And the nurse told me he was my uncle, so I assumed he must've showed her some ID."

Dr. Anderson tossed the photograph aside. He looked around the hallway. "Who let this Jacob Vega through?"

A nurse who was hiding behind a rack of medical equipment sheepishly raised her hand. "I may have."

"Why?" said Dr. Anderson.

"Well I figured I show him to his niece," said the nurse. "And if she recognized him, he was legit."

"And did she recognize him?" said Dr. Anderson.

"No," said the nurse. "But he showed them the picture with her parents and his niece seemed to think he was her uncle, so..."

"Okay, how does everybody feel?" said Dr. Anderson. "Anybody hurt?"

"I'm fine," said Cat. "Just a little shaken."

"Same here," said Andre. "Totally fine."

"I've got some glass in my arm," said Robbie, holding up his right arm.

"That shouldn't be too serious," said Dr. Anderson. He motioned for a doctor to come over and look at Robbie's arm. He continued to scan the hallway. "Where's security? How long does it take for them to get here?"

"I don't know," said a nurse. She went over to a phone on the wall. "I'll call to see what's taking them so long."

"Get on it. It shouldn't take this long for security to respond to a patient being kidnapped." Dr. Anderson walked down the hallway, looking for security. He saw two security guards rushing down the hallway and breathed a sigh of relief. This relief disappeared when the two guards turned down a corner away from Tori's quarantine room. His hands balled into fists. Why were they running there? A patient had just been kidnapped. Had something happened down there? The only thing down that hallway was that West girl's room. Dr. Anderson's eyes widened. "Oh no."

* * *

Tori had passed out when Jacob had jumped out of the hole in her room. The shock of it all, combined with the terror of flying through the air, had caused her to lose consciousness. When she finally came to her senses, she was levitating above the floor of what looked like an abandoned hotel room. The furniture was all covered in sheets, which looked moth-eaten, and the room was coated in a layer of dust. Her heart started racing. She could feel two strong arms clutching her. Uncle Jacob! Though Tori was starting to doubt that the two were really related. Jacob probably wasn't his real name. Suddenly, Tori felt the man's arms let go of her and she fell to the ground. She hit the floor with a loud thud and a painful jolt rushed through her body. Dust filled the air around her, causing Tori to cough. She rubbed her right arm. She'd landed on it when she fell. She looked up at Jacob who was still levitating above her. He lowered himself down to the floor next to her. "Sorry about that. I thought you'd be flying by now."

"Who are you?" said Tori. "I know you aren't Jacob Vega."

"You're right," said the man saying he was Uncle Jacob. "My name is Jacob, but we didn't have last names when I was born."

"What do you want with me?" said Tori. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"I didn't mean to put you through all this," said Jacob. "It's usually much simpler. It's really your friends' fault."

"It's my friend's fault?" said Tori. "You did this to me!"

"I just bit you," said Jacob. "All I did was make you sick for a while. Then you transform and you should be fine. I've done it before plenty of times. It's your friends who decided to take you to the hospital, where the doctors started poking and prodding you. They were the ones who prevented you from leaving."

"They were trying to make me better," said Tori.

"Well they didn't need to," said Jacob. "If they'd just left you at home and let nature take its course. I was trying to contact you and your friend the whole time."

"Contact me?" said Tori.

"Your dreams," said Jacob. "I know you had know what I'm talking about."

"Everyone has weird dreams when they're sick," said Tori.

"Yes, they must have felt weird to you," said Jacob. "Dreams are an unreliable way to communicate. They switch things up and distort the symbolism, but it was the only option I had. I did my best to explain the situation to you and where to go when you woke up. I was hoping that at the least it would cause your transformation to kick in faster. By the looks of it, you still have a ways to go."

Tori got up. "I don't want to transform!"

"You don't even know what it's like," said Jacob. "You don't even know what you'll turn into."

"I know I don't want it," said Tori.

* * *

Jade felt incredible. Adrenaline pumped through her veins. She felt so powerful, like nothing could stop her. She raced down the hallways of the hospital, tearing through anything, or anyone, that got in her way. One burley security guard had tried to tackle her. She tossed him aside like he was a rag doll. For some reason, she knew where she was going. She couldn't really explain it, but she was instinctively guided by some mysterious force. It was like a mental trail of breadcrumbs. She didn't know what it was, but it came to her in a dream and it made sense to her. She made her way down the hall and to a hospital room. Briefly, she noted how it looked destroyed. The window was knocked out and there was a hole in the wall. Jade leaped through the window and made her way to the hole in the wall. She looked out to see the street. Chunks of the wall were laying on the pavement and a crowd of people had gathered around it. A few were looking up and pointing at Jade. She smiled. She could feel that instinctual force pulling at her, instructing her to go to someplace on the other end of town. Jade jumped through the hole. She felt the cool night air engulf her body, a relief after being cooped up inside the hospital for so long. She levitated in the air, above the ground in front of her. Below her, the people in the crowd were panicking. Some ran, while others pointed at her fearfully. After taking a moment to enjoy the feeling of flying, Jade started gliding forward, going where she was being called to.


	10. Chapter 10

The doctor placed a bandage over Robbie's arm. "There you go."

"Thanks," said Robbie, examining his arm.

"How do you feel?" said the doctor.

"I'm fine," said Robbie. "It's just a cut."

"You've got a great attitude," said the doctor. "Since you're doing fine, I'm going to leave you for a bit to check out some other patients. I'll come back to see you in an hour."

"Cool," said Robbie, as the doctor walked away. He turned to look at Cat, who was sitting on a chair in the middle of the hallway. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing fine," said Cat. "You kind of absorbed most of the glass for me. Thanks for that."

"Don't mention it," said Robbie.

"Okay," said Cat. "Hey, how do you think Andre's doing?"

"I don't know," said Robbie. "Why do you ask?"

"Cause I saw him go into the bathroom like half an hour ago and he hasn't come out," said Cat. "That can't be good."

"Well, it was kind of a shock," said Robbie. "I can't imagine that's something you can just brush off."

"But you seem to be doing it well," said Cat.

"What?" said Robbie.

"I'm mean you're here, totally calm and everything," said Cat. "You seemed to have brushed it off."

"I haven't," said Robbie.

"So you're worried about them too?" said Cat.

"Yeah," said Robbie.

"But you don't show it," said Cat.

"Right," said Robbie. "I'm trying not to show it."

"Why?" said Cat.

"Well, the best thing to do in a situation like this is to be calm," said Robbie. "Someone needs to take charge and be the voice of reason."

"And you think that's you?" said Cat.

"You think I can't do it?" said Robbie.

"I didn't mean it like that," said Cat. "I meant, you want to be the guy in charge? Like that's a surprise. You know what I mean?"

"I think I do," said Robbie. "Thanks I guess."

"You're welcome," said Cat. "So um, how's it like being in charge?"

"I guess it's kind of tough," said Robbie.

"I figured," said Cat.

"But someone has to do it," said Robbie.

"Sure," said Cat. "But you don't have to do it."

"You don't think I can be a leader?" said Robbie.

"No," said Cat. "I didn't mean that. I'm just saying you're kind of putting yourself in a tough position."

"But if I don't do it," said Robbie. "Who will?"

"The doctors," said Cat. "And I guess the police now that Tori's been kidnapped."

"Well sure," said Robbie. "But I'm not going to be tracking down Tori and freeing her myself. I'm just going to be making sure everyone's doing fine and doesn't do something crazy."

"How's that going?" said Cat.

"Well, you can see for yourself," said Robbie. "But it's not like I could stop Jacob."

"Right," said Cat. "You couldn't have stopped him."

"And before that, Andre was being impossible," said Robbie. "And Trina is well Trina. All in all, I think I did an okay job."

Cat nodded. "It's not your fault."

"Exactly," said Robbie.

"You know," said Cat. "You're kind of putting a lot of pressure on yourself by doing this."

"I can handle it," said Robbie.

"You don't have to do it," said Cat.

"I want to," said Robbie.

"By yourself?" said Cat.

"If that's what it takes," said Robbie.

"Well what if that wasn't what it takes?" said Cat. "What if instead of taking all the pressures of the group on yourself, I can help you out? How's that sound?"

"You think you can help?" said Robbie.

"Sure," said Cat. "Right now Andre's in the bathroom. Let's go there and make him feel better. I can handle that."

"Alright," said Robbie, standing up. He walked down the hallway, but then turned around to see Cat was still sitting on her chair. "Are you coming?"

"I can't go there," said Cat. "It's the boys bathroom."

* * *

Jade flew through the sky, zipping past buildings, and causing mayhem wherever she could. She smashed through a flock of birds. They parted, trying to avoid her wrath. One bird flew to slow and was smacked aside by Jade. Her favorite trick was to scare the people who noticed her. She liked to glide past windows, disappearing when someone did a double take. She'd watch as they went insane, thinking they were seeing things. She hadn't had this much fun in a long time. Why did she ever need Beck? Unfortunately, her fun didn't last long. She still felt that nagging feeling, that was the best way to describe it, pulling her to the other side of the city. Jade was forced to abandon her petty amusements and fly towards wherever she was being guided to. She grumbled as she headed to this location. She looked down at the city, noticing that the buildings were getting older and older. Many were decrepit. Some were abandoned. Eventually she saw an empty hotel, or at least what Jade assumed was empty. The lights were all off, so likely no one was inside. The walls were beaten and worn. Some of the windows were broken and the main sign was starting to fall. There was a sign on the main door, likely a notice of condemnation. Jade examined the building, realizing that this must be where she was being called to. The nagging feeling was gone. She was where she needed to be.

* * *

Tori lay on the floor, curled into a ball, groaning. Jacob sat on a chair, looking at her. Tori wanted to rip his head off, but she was in too much pain. She writhed around as sharp pains filled her body. She felt like crying, but tried to hold back her tears. She wasn't going to let Jacob see her cry. Though he clearly knew what she was going through. "I'm sorry this has to happen, but once it's over you'll feel like it was worth it. I know it's a small comfort to you now. If the doctors had given you more sedative, maybe you wouldn't have to feel this."

"This is your fault." Tori choked out. "The doctors were trying to help me. The only reason I'm like this is because of you."

"Yes," said Jacob standing up. "I'm not going to deny that. But trust me, things are going to get better for you soon."

"Once I'm done with this," said Tori. "Once I transform into whatever you are, I'm going to kill you."

Jacob smiled. "I'd like to see you try."


	11. Chapter 11

Every inch of Tori's body was in pain. She convulsed as waves and waves of pain ran over her. It felt like she was being skinned alive. At this point she couldn't even say anything or even scream. Jacob just sat there, looking at her with a smug look on his face. She wanted to smack him, but at best she could flail her arm at him. He continued to look at her, his face becoming pensive, occasionally nodding like he knew what was happening to Tori. She wondered if the same thing that was happening to her was also happening to Jade. Normally she'd like to think of Jade being in pain, but she wouldn't want to wish this sensation on anyone. Hopefully, the doctors had given Jade enough sedative so that she slept through this.

Another jolt of pain ran through Tori's body. This one was worse than anything she'd experienced before. Blue spots filled her field of vision. She turned over, which only caused more pain for her. Tears began to run down her face. At this point, Jacob stood up and walked around the room. Judging by his face, he had grown bored of watching Tori writhe in pain. He looked out the window, watching the night sky. His back was entirely turned. Tori could kill him right now. She just needed to grab something sharp and stab him through the chest. From the floor, Tori could see a sharp metal rod beneath the bed. She assumed it must've fallen from the bed. Now the only problem with her plan was getting up. She was in so much pain, Tori could barely stand. However, the pain was getting less intense. This caused Tori's heart to skip a beat. If the pain was dying down, whatever was happening to her was about to end. She would be transformed into whatever Jacob was. Tori didn't have long to think about the implications of this. She heard the sound of glass breaking. It came from another room, and Tori tried to look to see where it was coming from. Jacob seemed surprised too, turning to the source of the noise. He marched across the room and peered out into the hallway. His back was turned to Tori. She could strike him right now, but she didn't have the strength. She was in too much pain right now.

* * *

Jade smashed through the window of the hotel room, causing glass to be flung through the air. A few hit her, but none were able to cut her skin. She looked around the room. It was completely empty. She wondered why she was being called here. This was the place she was being called to before that nagging sensation disappeared, right? Maybe not. Well, she was being called to this hotel. Maybe not this room specifically, but she was in the right area. She went over to the door and peered out into the hotel hallway. The paint on the walls was starting to crack and peel away. The doors to several rooms were open. One was completely off its hinges, laying on the ground. She stepped out to explore. She would check every room if she had to. Without that feeling guiding her, this would be like finding a needle in a haystack, but it was the only option she had. Besides, with her newfound sense of strength and energy, the task wouldn't be too daunting for her. She headed towards the nearest hotel room, but she heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. Jade turned around to see a man standing behind her. He wore biker leathers and smiled at him. For some reason, he looked familiar to her. She raised an eyebrow as she tried to remember who he was. Then it hit her. "It's you."

"Yes," said the man. "I see your transformation is complete."

* * *

Jacob was gone now, having gone out into the hall to check out the source of the noise. Tori was still in pain, though not as much as she was in before. She knew what this meant, even if she had no idea what this transformation would entail. She tried to stand up by using the bed to brace herself. It hurt, but it was manageable. She reached beneath the bed and grabbed the metal rod, positioning it so it was in easy reach. She made sure it was hidden behind her. She didn't want to give away what she was planning. Once Jacob returned, she would take it and ram it in his chest. It worked in the movies and it might work in real life. The vampire legends had to come from somewhere. That stuff about being weak to garlic and steaks through the heart was probably true.

Tori didn't have to wait long for Jacob to return. He soon came trouncing in the room, followed by Jade, who was still wearing her hospital gown. Tori's mouth dropped. "Hello Tori. It looks like your friend has transformed faster than you."

"I'm not her friend," said Jade. "So does that mean I'm super special or something. Like is there a vampire chosen one or something?"

"Not necessarily," said Jacob. "The speed of transformation varies from person to person. And besides, there is no vampire chosen one."

"But I transformed faster than Tori," said Jade. "That's got to count for something?"

"If you want it to, then sure," said Jacob.

"Great," said Jade.

Jacob turned back to Tori. "Anyways, it won't matter in a moment. I can tell that you're almost done. The pain's started to abate and soon you'll be one of us. Just give it a few more minutes."

"Oh joy," said Tori.

"You hate it now," said Jacob. "But once it's over, you won't know how you lived before."

"I'm sure I will," said Tori. "Having to go around drinking blood. Let me guess, I'll get used to the taste."

"If what I heard about what happened with you and your friend is true," said Jacob. "You already love it."

"Again, I'm not her friend," said Jade. "And how cares if she transforms? You've got me."

"I can show you many things," said Jacob. "I can show you how to hunt, how to pick your prey, how to do it so no one notices."

"Like you did with me?" said Tori.

"I'll admit I slipped up this time," said Jacob.

"You don't need Tori," said Jade. "I can do anything she can do, but better."

"But I'm allowed the occasional slip-up after several centuries," said Jacob. "And I've learned from my mistake. If you just let me show you what I know, we could do great things."

Jade slapped Jacob. "You don't need Tori! I can give you everything you want."

Tori took her chance. She grabbed the metal rod and flung it through the air. It hit Jacob square in his chest, causing him to reel backwards. The rod impaled him, pinning him to the wall of the hotel room. He looked down at the rod, still stuck in his chest, a shocked look on his face. He then turned back to Tori and smiled. "An admirable attempt, but you've seen too many horror movies."

Jacob pulled the rod out of his chest and tossed it aside. Jade smirked. "What'd that accomplish?"

"You're really starting to interest me," said Jacob. "You've been able to remain yourself despite the transformation and my attempts to enter your mind."

"You think she's interesting?" said Jade. "Come on. She's the most boring person I know. You've got me. Leave-"

Jacob grabbed Jade by the neck and tossed her across the room, causing her to smash through the window. "God she's so annoying. You should've thought twice before turning her."

Tori shivered as she looked at Jacob, who was advancing on her. "Stay...stay back."

"Or what?" said Jacob with a smug smile on his face. "You'll stab me in the chest again? You know that won't work."

"I'll...I'll..." Tori backed up against the bed, causing her to trip backwards and land on the mattress. She kicked in the air, desperately trying to stop Jacob's advance. A few kicks hit him, but he just absorbed the blows. He leaped on her, pinning her down on the bed. She screamed.

"Scream all you want," said Jacob. "It won't do anything."

Tori slapped him, each blow doing nothing. If anything, he seemed to enjoy it. The closest she got to inflicting pain was when her nails accidentally cut his forehead. He winced as she did this. "Get off me!"

"Or what?" said Jacob. "You'll scratch me some more?"

"I told you she was useless." Jade flew across the room and struck Jacob. This blow knocked him backwards, freeing up Tori. Jade wrapped her arms around Jacob and tried to wrestle him to the ground. She seemed to catch him off guard at first, but he soon regained his balance. He pried the girl off him and smacked her in the face a few times. Jade slumped, her face bruised. Her eyes flickered briefly as she passed out. Jacob dropped her senseless body to the ground. He turned to Tori, who by now had gotten off the bed. He stared at her, causing a chill to run down her spin. She charged at Jacob. This was the only instinct she had right now. She would have to fight Jacob sooner or later, and there was no hiding from Jacob in the hotel.

She flew through the air, much to Tori's amazement. The experience lasted only a few seconds, but it sent a rush of energy through Tori's body. She felt unstoppable. This feeling ended when she hit Jacob, barely even causing him to flinch. He grabbed her by the arm and tossed her to the floor. This sent a jolt through her body. Tori saw stars for a moment. Before she had a chance to recover, Jacob jumped on her. She squirmed under him and flailed her hands at him, hoping to get a blow in. Her fingers caught his leather jacket. Her nails were able to scratch it a bit, but it was too tough for her to cut his body. However, when she pulled her hand away from him, she could see some blood on one of her fingers. She looked back at Jacob and could see a small cut on his neck. The cut wasn't visible for long, as Tori could see it start to heal up.

Jacob grabbed Tori and lifted her up from the floor, tossing her across the room. Tori's heart fluttered as she hit the wall. It didn't hurt as much as when she landed on the floor. Maybe because she was expecting the pain this time. She was still sore though, collapsing to the ground as she fell from the wall. Jacob was standing above Tori. He still smiled smugly, though his frustration was starting to show on his face. "This has been fun and all, but it's starting to get tiresome. It'll be a lot easier if you just give up and let me show you what you can do. I mean, what are you hoping to accomplish with this? Make me angry for awhile?"

"I'm hoping to kill you," said Tori.

"Good luck with that," said Jacob. "How do you think you're going to do that?"

"I'll rip your head off." Jade flew through the air and grabbed Jacob by his neck. Tori could see there were some bruises on Jade's face, but they were already starting to fade. Jade's fingers tore into Jacob's neck, causing blood to ooze out of his skin. However, as Jade tore into him, his wounds started to heal on her. Her fingers got stuck in his neck as the cuts she inflicted on him closed up. A look of horror came over Jade's face as it happened. Jacob shot up in the air, smashing Jade against the ceiling of the room. She was stunned, and slumped down. However, her fingers were still stuck in Jacob's neck. This kept her from falling to the floor.

Tori, no longer feeling sore, flew through the air again. She shot towards Jacob, her fingers pointing ahead. This time, instead of charging towards his general direction and hoping to land a blow on him, she aimed for a specific target. Her right index finger punctured Jacob's left eye. A stream of fluid squirted out of Jacob's eye, hitting Tori. Jacob screamed as Tori's finger pierced his eye. He reeled backwards, his body jerking in pain. However, Tori made sure to kept her finger in his eye. She could feel it start to heal around her. Her finger probed the area. She could feel the wet, gooey, eye tissue around her finger. Soon, she felt something hard, likely his skull. As she did this, Jacob hands violently shot up and grabbed Tori's arm. His fingernails dug into her skin. Instinctively, Tori shoved her finger deeper into Jacob. She could feel the hard part of his skull start to crack and eventually break. As soon as she did this, Jacob froze. His arms feel and his body slumped. He was dead.

Tori pulled his finger from Jacob's skull. She could see some of his brain matter on her finger. This caused her to vomit. She grabbed the hotel sheets from a nearby bed and wiped her hands clean. She turned back to Jacob's body. It was starting to decay. In the few seconds Tori had turned away from him, his body had aged horribly. His skin wrinkled and hair began to fall out. The wounds on his neck began to open up again. Jade's fingers, which were still stuck in his neck, were now freed. Soon, Jacob's flesh began turning into a grey mush, which fell off his bones. Jade began to stir. Initially, she looked stunned, but was jolted awake when she realized she was covered in Jacob's melting flesh. She stood up. "What did you do?"

"What did I do?" said Tori. "I saved us from that monster."

"You did this?" said Jade, raising an eyebrow. "Please. You needed me to save your ass. You couldn't beat him."

"Please," said Tori. "He wiped the floor with you. You were unconscious when I beat him."

"No, I probably was the one who killed him," said Jade. "It just took a while to kick in. That's why it looks like you killed him."

Tori sighed. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," said Jade. "I've just got a nasty headache, but I'll live. How about you?"

"I'm fine. Just some cut." Tori looked down at her hands. She noticed that the cuts were still there. Given how fast Jacob's wounds had healed, Tori's cuts should've been gone by now. Maybe she didn't heal as fast as he did. Or maybe she had lost her powers now that Jacob was dead. If that was true, she was surprised at how easy her powers were gone. The transformation had been an immensely painful process. It was weird to think it could be done so easily. Then Tori felt a strange sensation. "Oh no."

"What's wrong?" Jade looked at Tori with a confused look on his face. Then she started to convulse. So did Tori. The two fell to the floor, both convulsing. The room around Tori spun and in no time, she passed out. After what felt like hours, the two girls woke up. Jade was the first to speak. She rubbed her forehead. "What happened."

Tori groaned. Her head was sore. She looked around the room. The evidence of their battle was still there. The broken glass, holes in the wall, and Jacob's skeleton could be seen around them. Tori turned to Jade. "I think we're normal now."

"Oh great," said Jade. "How are we going to get home now?"

"Let's check Jacob's pocket's," said Tori. "I hope he's got enough money for the taxi fare."

* * *

Robbie, Cat, Andre, and Trina stood in front of the hospital. After hours, Robbie had finally managed to convince Andre to leave the hospital. He insisted on staying for the longest time, convinced Tori would return eventually. However, Robbie was able to persuade him that it wouldn't hurt to leave and do something fun in the mean time. He agreed, but was still despondent. While they left the hospital, Andre was noticeably crestfallen. Robbie turned to him. "So, what do you want to do?"

"I don't know," said Andre. "You guys pick something. I'm sure I'll enjoy it."

"You guys wanted to see that movie the other night," said Trina. "Why don't we go see it?"

"We kind of missed it," said Cat.

"Sure, but I'm sure there's going to be another showing," said Trina.

"Yeah," said Robbie. "Let's check to see if there's a matinee."

"Okay," said Andre. "We can do that."

"I'll check on my phone," said Trina. "What was it called?"

"You don't know what it's called?" said Robbie.

"Well I wasn't the one who wanted to go to it," said Trina. "You guys invited me."

"Do you guys mind if we join you?" The four of them looked up to see Tori and Jade standing there in front of a taxi cab.

"Tori!" Andre jumped forward and hugged Tori.

"Hey Andre," said Tori. "Nice to see you again, but you're...you're hugging me too tightly."

Jade rolled her eyes and walked up to the rest of the gang. "Anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

"I should be asking that to you," said Robbie. "What happened?"

"It's a long story," said Jade.

* * *

Dr. Anderson looked at his notes, his head in his hands. What was he supposed to put down? Everything that had happened during the Tori Vega incident defied scientific explanation. Her behavior, the arrival of Jacob Vega, and Jade sudden behavior. All of which were confirmed by security footage and numerous eyewitness reports. The police were equally confused. They chalked everything up to kidnapping. Jacob had wanted to kidnap the Vega and West girls to hold them for ransom. Everything else was unimportant. Jacob's ability to fly was just an illusion. He was able to smash through the glass and walls because he had brass knuckles. The footage of Jade West tearing through the hospital and tossing aside security was simply inaccurate. The girls' story about fighting him off was simply a hallucination due to the drugs they had been given in the hospital. Jacob had simply left to get supplies and they'd snuck off when he was gone.

Maybe the police could write the story off as a simple kidnapping, but Dr. Anderson couldn't. There were just too many pieces of the puzzle that didn't make sense. He thought about Dr. Hartman's theory that Tori had been bitten by a vampire. He laughed. By far, that was the most plausible explanation of what happened. In the end, what did it matter? Tori and Jade were back home, safe and sound, with their friends looking after them. That was what was important after all. Dr. Anderson closed his notebook and left his office. After everything he'd seen, he needed a coffee.


End file.
